Parcel postage metering system

ABSTRACT

A parcel postage metering system includes electromechanical apparatus for positioning the various digit selector arms of a postage meter in accordance with the corresponding digits of the postage, held in an output register, applicable to a parcel as determined on the basis of its weight and destination. A motor drives the various digit selector arms through individual clutches, and the instantaneous digit positions of the arms are separately compared with the corresponding postage digits in the output register. As comparisons are achieved, the associated clutches are disengaged leaving the arms in appropriate postage digit selection positions.

United States Patent Dlugos et al. 1 1 Nov. 6, 1973 1 1 PARCEL POSTAGEMETERING SYSTEM 2,796,830 6/1957 Hilton 235/92 EA 1 Inventors: Daniel F.g unt ngton; 3,356,021 12/1967 May et al. 235/619 R Gerald C. Freeman,Norwalk; Peter N. piotmski, Stamford, a" of C0nn Primary Examiner-ThomasA. Robinson Assistant ExaminerJoseph M. Thesz, Jr. [73] Assignee:Pitney-Bowes, lnc., Stamford, Conn. Atmmey A1be1-t w Scribner [22]Filed: Apr. 10, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 242,851 1 1 ABSTRACT RelatedApplication Data A parcel postage metering system includes electrome-[62] Division of Ser No 107 223 Jan 18 1971 Pat No chanical apparatusfor positioning the various digit se- 3 692 988 lector arms of a postagemeter in accordance with the corresponding digits of the postage, heldin an output [52] CL 235/92 EA 235/92 CA 235/61 9 C register, applicableto a parcel as determined on the 10093 6 basis of its weight anddestination A motor drives the [51 I lnL CL G06m 3/06 various digitselector arms through individual clutches, [58] Field EA 92 CA and theinstantaneous digit positions of the arms are 92 {01/93 separatelycompared with the corresponding postage digits in the output register.As comparisons are [56] References Cited achieved, the associatedclutches are disengaged leav- UNITED STATES PATENTS ing the arms inappropriate postage digit selection positions. 3,092,020 6/1963 Borutzkeet al 101/93 C 2,893,311 7/1959 Wright et a1. 101/93 C 4 Claims, 7Drawing Figures E6 58( I00) ROY EMT POSTAGE DIGIT SELECTION APPARATUS 30REG saw/1) 522 r g 573 COMP CLUTCH 1 1 1 1 5 2b POSTAGE REG. 58(I) EXEC.HE K METER 1 1 1 1 75 V comp V 5 CLLgil-l 1 1 1 1 1 1 fine o REG 5800) 11 1 1 577 !e com CLLgiI-l 1 1 1 1 PATENTEU NOV 6 I975 3710.945 SHEET 10F5 '1 PATENTEnnuv 5191s 3 770,9 5

sum 56F 5 lies 5s (/uoo) ROY EMT I 7 "W posmee men SELECTION APPARATUS30 184 com CLUTCH 32 LL 550D Ilse 58('/lo) 572 573 coMp N CLUTCH HM s 2POSTAGE Rec-h 59 l I Exec METER a? r 575 V 58 g2 51 comp 5 CLUTCH 1 +1 EL 2 1 l I 0 554b Ree sa e) b w l 57 577 com J X QLUTCH H? PARCEL POSTAGEMETERING SYSTEM This is a division, of application Ser. No. 107,223filed Jan. 18, 1971 now US. Pat. No. 3,692,988.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There have been a number of proposals forparcel postage systems to be used in the processing of parcels formailing or shipping. A comprehensive or universal system must besufficiently flexible to handle a number of variables which are involvedin mailing or shipping parcels. The weight of each parcel must bedetermined with reasonable accuracy and speed. The distances between theoriginal and the various parcel destinations must be determined in orderto identify the appropriate postal zone for each parcel. Then, thepostage applicable to each parcel must be determined on the basis of itsweight and destination or postal zone. Having determined the applicablepostage, a postage meter or the like is then set up and controlled toissue a stamp imprinted with that postage; the stamp being adhered tothe parcel.

There are other factors or variables which a truly universal systemshould be equipped to handle. For example, the United States Post Officeoffers various classes of parcel post service, such as surface parcelpost and air parcel post, each with different postage rate schedulesbased according to weight and postal zone. Also, there is United ParcelService which offers parcel shipping services. It would thus bedesirable to have a system which can be selectively controlled tocompute postage or shipping charges for each of these differentservices.

In addition, there are factors such as insurance, special handling,special delivery, etc. which are often times desired and preferablyshould be capable of system implementation. Also, the special situationinvolving the computation of postage or shipping charges for oversizeparcels should be considered in the design of a universally flexibleparcel postage system.

When dealing with United Parcel Service, there are special shippingsituations which require an additional charge, such as when shippingfrom west to east. Moreover, United Parcel Service (UPS) does not haveauthorized land routes between a number of geographical locations andmust resort to so-called drop shipping, which presents a specialshipping charge situation. In some areas UPS has different rateschedules for intrastate and interstate shipments. All of these varioussituations should be accounted for.

Heretofore, some of the proposed parcel postage computing systems havebeen essentially special purpose" and thus inflexibe machines adapted tohandle only a single class of postal service. Attempts to providegeneral purpose machines have resulted in extreme complexity; suchsystems being unwieldy from both the operator standpoint and theservicing standpoint.

From a practical standpoint, such systems cannot'operate without humanintervention. At the very least, an

operator must be on hand to determine the postal zone of each parceldestination. This determination must then be introduced into the systemas an operator input. Other operator inputs manifesting selections ofservice, class of service, insurance, etc., are called for if the systemis to be applicable to diverse mailings. An oversize parcel situationmust also be entered into the system by the operator if the correctpostage is to be computed. Thus, operational simplicity is a mostimportant consideration in the design of a truly flexible parcel postagesystem if the use of highly skilled and thus highly paid operatingpersonnel is to be avoided.

It is accordingly and object of the present invention to provideelectromechanical apparatus for positioning the postage digit selectorarms of a postage meter in accordance with the postage determined by anautomated parcel postage metering system.

A further object is to provide apparatus of the above character which isfast, reliable, and accurate.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in partappear hereinafter.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided apparatus forinterfacing an electronic postage metering system with a conventionalmechanical postage meter. Separate position encoders translate the digitpositions of the various postage digit selector arms of the postagemeter into coded digits which are compared with the correspondingpostage digits stored in the system postage output register. The postagedigit selector arms are separately driven through their various digitpositions, and as each assumes the digit positions corresponding to theassociated digits in the postage register, they are decoupled from theirrespective drives. When all have been positioned to set up a digit bydigit comparison with the postage held in the postage register, thepostage meter is triggered to issue a postage imprinted stamp.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope ofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding of the nature andobjects of the invention, reference should be had to the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a parcel postage metering systemincorporating the apparatus of with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an overal functional block diagram of the parcel postagemetering system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of one end portion of one of the linksinterconnecting the postage digit selection apparatus of FIG. 3 and thepostage meter of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a detailed logic block diagram of the postage data handlingportion of the postage digit selection apparatus;

Like reference notations refer to corresponding parts throughout severalviews of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1,a parcel postage system, such as disclosed in detail in the above-notedUS. Pat. No. 3,692,988, includes a console, generally indicated at 10,which contains, among other things, electronic circuitry for processingweight and postage data. Parcel weight data is obtained from a scale,generally indicated at 12, incorporated in console 10, while postagedata is primarily obtained from a memory drum, generally indicated at 14and also accommodated within the console. As will be seen, memory drum14 has two separate memory banks; one storing a postage rate scheduleand the other storing a zip code to postal zone conversion table. Thedata stored on memory drum 14 is optically encoded as opaque andtransparent binary bits which are sensed by optical readout stations. Asseen in FIG. 1, a light emitter 16 shines light through the postage ratememory bank peripheral portion of the memory drum 14 to a receiver 18,consisting of an array of suitable photosensors such asphototransistors. Similarly, the zip to zone memory bank peripheralportion of the memory drum is read out using a light emitter 20 and areceiver 22. Memory drum 14 is rotated by a motor 24 and aninterconnecting belt drive 25.

it will readily occur to those in the art that other forms of datamemories may be employed in the system of the present invention. Forexample, the postage and zone data may be optically encoded on one ormore transparent discs. Moreover, suitable data memories may be providedin the form of magnetically encoded discs and drums, or even magneticcore matrices, although it is preferred to use a cyclical memory whereinthe data is revolved passed readout stations, thus simplifying accessingfrom a component standpoint.

The console also includes a control panel, generally indicated at 26 inFIG. 1, which contains a plurality of mode keys selectively depressed byan operator to initiate various system operating modes to be described.The control panel also includes numerical entry keys accommodating themanual input of data pursuant to the invention. Space is also providedin the control panel 26 to accommodate a display panel 26b where data isdisplayed; such data being system derived postage and weight data, aswell as data entered from the control panel 26.

The console 10 is electrically linked to electromechanical postageselection apparatus, generally indi' cated at 30. The selectionapparatus, as will be seen, is mechanically linked to a postage meter 32of known construction, such as a Pitney-Bowes 5,300 Series PostageMeter. Parcel postage data derived at the console on the basis of theparcel weight is fed to the selection apparatus 30, which operates tomechanically position the various postage digit selector arms, jointlyindicated at 33 in FIG. 1, by way of interconnecting links, jointlyindicated at 34, so as to set up the postage meter 32 for the properpostage. The postage meter is then signaled to issue a stamp printedwith the value of the postage received from console 10.

At this point, it should be pointed out that the system of the presentinvention is applicable to United States Post Office parcel post serviceand United Parcel Service (UPS). As is well known, a parcel can be senteither by parcel post (PP) or UPS. Thus, when reference is made todetermining the applicable postage, this is intended to mean either thepostage charged by the Post Office or the shipping charges applicable tothe parcel if sent by UPS. Each service has its own rate scheduledetermined on the basis of the parcel weight, and, generally speaking,the distance the parcel is to be sent, and, in fact, the presentinvention contemplates storing both rates schedules on memory drum l4.

In practice, parcels would be separated into groups depending uponwhether they are to be sent by PF or UPS. One group of parcels, forexample, those to be sent by Parcel Post would be successively weighedon a scale 12 to obtain the parcel postage stamps from postage meter 32;the postage values being automatically deducted from a prepaid postageamount entered by postal officials. The parcel postage meter 32 wouldthen be removed; the cover 31 being opened and the links 34 readilydisconnected from the postage digit selector arms 33. A UPS meter issubstituted, and the console 10 is conditioned to determine the shippingcharges for the parcels to be sent by UPS.

Alternatively, separate selection apparatus 30 and mechanicallyinterlinked meters 32 can be provided for each service. They would beseparately electrically linked to the console and would be individuallyselected from the control panel 26 by the operator according to whichservice is to be employed, either PP or UPS, for each parcel beingweighed on scale 12.

OVERALL SYSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM The basic operation of the system of FIG. 1will be more readily understood from the system block diagram seen inFIG. 2. With the exception the postage meter 32 and theelectromechanical selection apparatus 30, all of the components seen inFIG. 8 are functionally and physically located within console 10. When aparcel is placed on scale 12, its mechanical response is coupled to ascale encoder 36 adapted to convert the parcel weight into aproportional number of pulses which are accumulated in a counter 40. Aswill be seen, counter 40 is an up/down pulse counter, enabling it toaccurately follow the scale response as it oscillates about andultimately settles down to a final weight reading.

The operator, upon reading the parcel address destination, determinesthe appropriate postal zone on the basis of the distance between hisgeographical location and the parcel destination. The operator entersthe postal zone by depression of the appropriate key of a numericalentry keyboard 26a included in control panel 26 (FIG. 1). This zoneentry is supplied by connection 42 and a multiplexer or switch 44 to azone register 46. Prior to the entry of a zone from numerical entrykeyboard 26a, the operator presses a mode key Z included in a mode keygroup 54, which has as one of its functions the conditioning ofmultiplexer 44 to route the keyboard zone entry through to zone register46. The zone digit entry held in zone register 46 conditions a zoneselector 50 to effect appropriate zone entry into the postage memory 52which, as previously noted, comprises one of the memory banks carried bymemory drum 14 (FIG. 1). In physical terms, zone entry into the postagememory 52 is effective by selecting one of a plurality ofphototransistors, or the equivalent, included in the receiver array 18generally illustrated in FIG. 1. As will be subsequently described, thepostage memory 52 includes a series of side by side zone channels inwhich postage data is serially recorded by parcel weight. Thus, the zoneselector 50 effects selection of the appropriate phototransistor of thereceiver array 18 which is aligned with the channel of the postagememory 52 assigned to the particular zone entered into the zone register46 from the keyboard 26a.

The next operator function, and in most situations the only remainingoperator function required for each parcel, is to depress a postagerequest key PR included in mode key group 54 in control panel 26. Thisgenerates an input over lead 55 to a sequencer 56 which operates toorganize the system operating functions pursuant to determining theapplicable parcel postage.

Since the appropriate zone has already been entered into zone register46, thereby accessing postage memory 52 for all postage data, regardlessof parcel weight, for that particular zone, the sequencer 56 generates asignal RD LBS over lead 57 to an input/output register 58. This signalconditions register 58 for acceptance of the appropriate postage dataread from the postage memory 52 over connection 59 to a serial toparallel converter 60 and thence over connection 61 and multiplexer 62to the input/output register. As will be described, the postage data isstored and read out from postage memory in serial binary coded decimal,while the input/output register 58 is designed to accept the postagedata in serial digit, parallel bit fashion. Thus, the serial to parallelconverter 60 is necessary to accept the digit bits serially from postagememory 52 and successively pass the bits of each postage digit inparallel to the input/output register 58. The memory 52 also includes apostage clock bit channel which is read out to provide postage clockpulses POST CLK over lead 63 to converter 60 for synchronizing theserial to parallel conversion.

Having accessed the postage memory 52 for the appropriate zone, it nowremains to further access the postage memory for the appropriate parcelweight, held in up/down counter 40, in order to obtain the applicablepostage for entry into input/output register 58. To this end, thepostage memroy is provided with a pound clock pulse channel in which arerecorded a series of pound clock bits located in predetermined relationto the stored postage data. These pound clock pulses LB CLK, read outduring each revolution of the drum memory 14 (FIG. 1), are applied overlead 64 to an address counter 66. The pound clock pulse countaccumulating in address counter 66 is continuously compared in acomparator 68 with the parcel weight stored in the up/down counter 40supplied over connection 69. When a comparison is reached between thepulse counts in address counter 66 and up/down counter 40, comparator 68generates a compare signal COMP over lead 70 to the sequencer 56. Due tothe arrangement of the postage data in postage memory 52, the generationof compare signal COMP signals that the postage data applicable to theparcel weight registered in the up/down counter 40 is about to be readout to the serial to parallel converter 60. The sequencer circuit 56, inresponse to the compare signal COMP generates a read postage commandsignal RD POST over lead 72 to the serial to parallel converter 60. Thissignal conditions the converter 60 to perform the serial to parallel bitconversion on a digit by digit basis for the next four postage digitsread from the postage memory 52. The four bits of each postage digit areassembled and then transferred in parallel, digit by digit, to theinput/output register 58. Each postage digit is shifted into [outputregister 58, the serial to parallel converter 60 generates a postageentered signal PST ENT over line 78 to a postage ready logic circuit 80.Prior to receipt of this signal the postage ready logic circuit 80provides a postage not ready signal POST RDY over lead 82 to thesequencer 56 effective to enable the various sequence control functionsof the sequencer. When the postage not ready signal POST RDY goes falsein response to receipt of the postage entered signal POST ENT,signifying that the postage has been fully entered into the input/outputregister 58, the sequencer 56 is effectively disabled.

Assuming that no additional postage over and above the postage valueheld in the input/output register is applicable to the particular parcelon scale 12, the postage ready circuit 80 generates a ready enter signalRDY ENT which is supplied over lead 84 to the electromechanical postageselection apparatus 30. This apparatus then looks at the postage digitsregistered in the input/output register 58 communicated over connection85 and operates to mechanically position the postage digit selectorarrns 33 of postage meter 32 accordingly via the interconnecting links,diagrammatically indicated at 34 in FIG. 2. After all the postage levershave been approximately positioned by the selection apparatus 30, anexecute signal EXEC issues over lead 87, signaling the postage meter toexecute a print cycle and issue an appropriately imprinted postage stampwhich may then be applied to the parcel. After the postage meter 32 hasissued the stamp, it issues a cycle complete signal 0 which is fed backover lead 89 to the console for the purpose of resetting the consolecomponents preparatory for the next parcel.

In some of the cases, it is contemplated that the operator will not besupplied with the postal zone of the parcel destination, but will beable to readily obtain the zip code of the parcel destination typicallyrecorded on the parcel address. In these cases, the operator enters thefirst three digits of the zip code into the input/output register 58 vianumerical keyboard 26a and multiplexer 62. It is only when key Z isdepressed preparatory to a direct zone entry, that the keyboard isconnected by multiplezer 44 to the zone register 46.

With the entry of a zip code into the input/output register and thedepression of the postage request key PR, the sequencer 56 initiates azone search through a zip to zone memory 90, included as the othermemory bank carried by memory drum 14 (FIG. 1). As will be seen, thezip-zone memory 90 includes a zip clock bit channel, with each zip clockbit storage position aligned with a binary coded decimal zone storageposition. As will become apparent, the zip-zone memory is speciallyencoded on the basis of the geographical location of each particularsystem installation, since the applicable postal zone in each case isdetermined by the distance to the parcel destination. These zip clockbits are read as zip clock pulses ZIP CLK from the zip-zone memory 90during each memory drum revolution and are fed over lead 92 to sequencer56 during a zone search. These zip clock pulses are gated through as addclock pulses ADD CLK over lead 93 to the input/output register 58.

As will be seen, the input/output register is adapted not only as abinary coded decimal (BCD) digit shift register, but also as a BCDcounter. Thus, each zip clock pulse ZIP CLK gated through as an addclock pulse ADD CLK to the input/output register increments the zip codenumber registered therein by one. The input/output register isincremented until it overflows, i.e., goes from 999 to 000. Whenoverflow occurs, the input/output register 58 generates a read storezone signal RD STR ZONE on output lead 95 to zone register 46. The zoneregister responds by accepting and holding the zone numbercoincidentally read from the zip-zone memory 90 and supplied overconnection 97 and multiplexer 44.

From this general description, it is seen that by serially arranging thezone data in the zip-zone memory 90 in accordance with the distancebetween the various zip code designated geographical locations and thesystem installation location, where the zone data is located in thememory by counting up to the compliment of the zip code held in theinput/output register, the appropriate zone can be entered into the zoneregister 46 from the zip-zone memory 90, thereby effecting a zip to zoneconversion.

The read store zone signal RD STR ZONE on output lead 95 is alsosupplied to the sequencer S6 to indicate that the appropriate zone hasbeen located and entered into the zone register 46 and that a search ofthe post age memory 52 for the applicable postage may now be performedin the manner previously generally described.

Occasionally, the system of the present invention may be called upon todetermine the postage applicable to an oversized package. Under both thePP and UPS rate schedules, the postage applicable to an oversizedpackage is determined as follows. If the oversized package is less thanan established minimum weight, 25 pounds for UPS and 10 pounds for PP,the applicable postage is determined on the basis of the establishedminimum weight. However, if the oversized parcel weights more than theestablished minimum weight, the applicable postage is determined by itsactual weight.

Still referring to FIG. 2, when the operator determines that a parcelplaced on scale 12 is oversized, an oversize key 0/8 is depressed,conditioning an oversize logic circuit 100 over lead 102. During thesearching of the postage memory 52 for the applicable postage, theaccumulating count of the pound clock pulses LB CLK read from thepostage memory 52 into the address counter 66 is applied over connection104 to the oversize logic circuit 100, as well as the comparator 68. Theoversize logic circuit also receives the compare output COMP fromcomparator 68. As will be seen, the count content of the address counter66 is continuously decoded to detect when it is incremented to theestablished minimum pound value. Until this minimum pound value isreached in the search of the postage memory 52, the oversize logiccircuit 100 supplies a signal OTS over lead 106 to the sequencer 56, ineffect telling the sequencer to disregard the compare signal COMPissuing from the comparator 68 over lead 70, which would occur if theoversized package weighs less than the established minimum. in thiscase, when the address counter increments to the established minimumweight value, the oversize logic circuit 100 supplies a read minimumpounds signal RD MIN LBS over lead 108 to the sequencer 56, whichresponds by issuing the read postage signal RD POST over lead 72 to theserial to parallel converter 60. The postage applicable to theestablished minimum weight is thus entered into the input/outputregister.

On the other hand, if the established minimum weight value is achievedin the address counter 66 before a compare signal COMP issues fromcomparator 68, the oversize logic circuit 100 is converted to itsinoperative state as though it had not been conditioned in the firstinstance by oversize key 0/5. The disabling effect of the signal 07S isremoved, and the sequencer awaits the receipt of the compare signal COMPfrom comparator 68 pursuant to retrieval from the postage memory 52 ofthe postage value based on the actual weight of the oversized parcel.

In certain situations dealing with the UPS system, a nominal additionalpostage charge is required in shipping parcels between certainlocations. These special situations can be conveniently handled inaccordance with the present invention by providing recorded flag bits inthe zip-zone memory 90 which are read out as flag pulses into thepostage ready logic over lead 109 under the control of the read storezone signal RD STR ZONE at the same time that the zone is read into thezone register 46. After the postage applicable to the parcel weight hasbeen located in the postage memory 52 and entered into the input/outputregister 58, the postage ready logic 80 determines whether it receivedone or more flag pulses over lead 109 from the zip-zone memory at thetime the proper zone was located and entered into the zone register 46.If flag pulses had been received, the postage ready logic circuit 80 isconditioned to accept over connection 111 from the zipzone memory 90uniquely coded bits in effect designating the amount of additionalpostage to be added to the postage already registed in the input/outputregister 58. The postage ready logic circuit 80 generates an add clockgate pulse ADD CLK GATE over lead 112 to the sequencer 56 effective togate through to the input/output register a predetermined number of zipclock pulses ZIP CLK as add clock pulses ADD CLK to the input/outputregister 58. The input/output register is thus incremented accordinglyso as to register the original postage plus the additional postage.

The various entries into the input/output register 58, such as zip codenumbers and postage are displayed at the display panel 26b. In addition,a key No. in group 54 may be depressed to condition the display panel todisplay the parcel weight in the up/down counter 40 communicated overconnection 113.

For a detailed description of the operation of the system of FIG. 2,reference may be had to US. Pat. No. 3,692,988, whose disclosure isspecifically incorporated herein by reference.

POSTAGE SELECTION APPARATUS The electromechanical postage digitselection apparatus 30, seen generally in FIGS. 1 and 2, is shown indetail in 3 through 7. It will be recalled from the general descriptionof FIGS. 1 and 2 that the postage digit selection apparatus ismechanically interconnected to the settable postage digit arms 33 ofpostage meter 32 by links 34 and operates to position the postage digitarms to the corresponding postage digit values registered in theinput/output register 58.

Referring first to FIG. 4, the postage digit selection apparatus 30includes a motor 500 supported by a frame casting 502. The output shaft504 of motor 500 carries a gear 506 which meshes with a gear 508 keyedon an elongated jack shaft 510, best seen in FIG. 3. Jack shaft gear 508engages gears 512 and SM respectively mounted on the input shafts 516and 518 of clutches 520 and 522. The other end of jack shaft 510 carriesa gear 524 which engages a pair of gears 526 and 528 respectivelymounted on the input shafts 530 and 532 of clutches 534 and 536.

Output shaft 527 of clutch 522 extends coaxially through input shaft518, which is in the form of a sleeve, and beyond both sides of theclutch body and carries at one end a crank 529. This crank is pivotallyconnected to one end of link 34a, which is pivotally connected at itsother end to the hundredths digit selector arm 33 of the postage meter32. Similarly, the output shaft 521 of clutch 520 carries at one end acrank 523 which is pivotally connected to one end of link 34b. The otherend of link 34b is pivotally connected to the tenths digit selector arm33 of the postage meter 32. One end of output shaft 535 of clutch 534carries a crank 537, which is pivotally connected to one end of theunits digit selection link 340, while one end of output shaft 539 ofclutch 536 carries a crank 541 pivotally connected to the one end of thetens digit selection link 34d.

It will be appreciated that the various clutch output shafts and jackshaft 510 are journalled by laterally spaced vertical extensions 503 ofthe frame casting 502.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the other end of output shaft 527 of clutch522 is adapted to mount an encoder disc 550 rotating with the outputshaft in a plane between a light source 550a and a receiver 550]]. Disc550 is encoded in binary coded decimals with the numbers through 9around its periphery and is angularly oriented on output shaft 527 so asto provide a digital readout of the digit positions of the hundredthspostage digit selector arm 33, as positioned by crank 529 and link 34a.Similarly, output shaft 521 mounts an encoder disc 552 which is read outby a light source 552a and receiver 552b to provide a digital readout ofthe digit positions of the tenths postage digit selector arm, aspositioned by crank 523 and interconnecting link 34b. In the samemanner, encode discs 554 and 556 provide digital readouts of the digitpositions of the units and tens postage digit selector arms of thepostage meter 32.

Each of the clutch output shafts carries a detent disc which serves toultimately angularly orient the clutch output shafts to the variouspostage digit positions. In practice, these detent discs serve as coursepositioning means for the postage digit selector arms 33 of the postagemeter; the internal detent mechanism of the postage meter serving as thefinal, precise digit positioning means for the various postage digitselector arms. Thus, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, output shaft 527 carriesa detent disc 560 which is formed with an annular array of detents 560a,as best seen in FIG. 4. The detents 560a are engaged by a pawl S60b toultimately angularly orient the crank 529 and link 334a for the varioushundredths postage digit positions. Similarly, out- -put shaft 521carries a detent disc 562 formed having an array of detents 562a whichare engaged by pawl 562b to ultimately orient crank 523 and link 34b forthe various tenths postage digit positions. In the same manner, putputshafts 535 and 541 carry detent discs 564 and 566, respectively, whichare engaged by pawls 564k and 566!) to ultimately orient theirassociated cranks and links for the various units and tens postage digitpositions.

The operation of the postage selection apparatus 30 can best beappreciated from a description of FIG. 7. As long as the system isturned on, motor 500 of the postage selection apparatus 30 (FIG. 4) isenergized to supply continuous drive to the input shafts of the variousclutches of FIG. 3. The various clutches are initially conditioned suchthat their input shafts are drivingly coupled to their output shafts,and the various cranks are continuously rotated. The links 34interconnecting the cranks and the postage digit selector arms 33 causethe selection arms to continuously move back and forth through theirvarious postage digit positions. As seen in FIG. 7, the digital readoutof the positions of the hundredths postage digit selector am is suppliedto a comparator 570 for comparison with the hundredths digit held ininput/output register 58. Similarly, the digital readout of thepositions of the tenths digit selector arm is applied to comparator 572for comparison with the tenths digit in input/output register 58. Thedigital readout of the positions of the units postage digit selector armis fed to comparator 574 for comparison with the units digit in theinput/output register while the digital readout of the tens postagedigit selector arm digit positions is compared with the content of thetens digit register 150 of the input/output register in a comparator576.

The outputs of these comparators are supplied as one input to separateAND gates 57], 573, 575 and 577. The other input to each of these ANDgates is the ready enter signal RDY ENT, which issues from the postageready logic when it is determined that the postage value stored in theinput/output register is the final value to be issued by the postagemeter 32.

As the postage digit selection arms 33 are moved to the postage digitpositions called for by the corresponding postage digits held in theinput/output register, AND gates 571, 573, 575 and 577 supply outputs tothe various clutches effective to disengage their input shafts fromtheir output shafts. Thus, as the hundredths postage digit selector armmoves to the digit position corresponding to the hundredths postagedigit stored in the hundredths digit register 156 of the input/outputregister 58, comparator 570 generates an output which passes through ANDgate 571 to disengage clutch 522. Output shaft 527 is decoupled frominput shaft 518 of clutch 522, and crank 529 and link 34a are ultimatelypositioned by pawl 560b acting on detent disc 560. However, the ultimateand precise positioning of the hundredths postage digit selector arm isachieved by the internal detent mechanism of the postage meter 32. Thetenths, units and tens postage digit selector arms 33 of the postagemeter 32 are ultimately positioned in accordance with the digit contentsof the tenths, units and tens postage digits stored in the input/outputregister 58 in the same manner. It will be noted that the positions ofthe postage digit selector arms are carried out concurrently andindependently of each other, thus permitting rapid postage setting ofthe postage meter 32.

When all of the postage digit selector arms 33 have been positioned, ANDgate 580 is enabled to pass an execut signal EXEC over lead 87 (see alsoFIG. 2), commanding the postage meter to execute a print cycle and issuea stamp with the postage value held in the input/output registerimprinted therein. At the conclusion of the postage meter operatingcycle, the cycle complete signal 0 issues to be fed back to the consoleto clear the various flip-flops, registers and counters preparatory forthe next system operation.

As seen in FIGS. and 6, the forward end of each link 34 is formed havingan elongated slot 582 which accommodates a laterally extending pin S84carried at the upper end of each postage digit selector arm 33. A latch586 pivotally mounted on a pin 588, carried adjacent the forward end ofeach link 34, engages the side of the postage digit selector arm 33opposite pin 584 so as to maintain the pin captive in slot 582. Byvirtue of this arrangement, there is provided a lost motion connectionbetween the links 34 and their associated post age digit selector arms33, thereby enabling the internal detent mechanism of the postage meterto take over from the final positioning of the postage digit selectorarms from the various detent discs 560, 562, 564 and 566 of the postagedigit selection apparatus 30.

Arm 586 at the forward end of each link 34 is biased downwardly intoengaging relation with the postage digit selector arm 33 by a spring590. The arm 586 is readily pivoted upwardly, as indicated in phantom inFIG. 5 to facilitate disconnection of the links from their associatedpostage digit selector arms 33, thus freeing the upper portion of thepostage meter 32 for removal from its base when it becomes necessary toobtain additional prepaid postage at a local post office.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for positioning the various postage digit selector arms ofa postage meter to postage digit positions according to thecorresponding postage digits of a postage value held in an outputregister of a postage metering system, said apparatus comprising, incombination:

A. units digit, tenths digit and hundredths digit clutches, each havinginput and output shafts;

B. a motor continuously drivingly rotating said clutch input shaftsduring a positioning cycle;

C. links interconnecting the respective output shafts ofsaid clutches tothe units, tenths, and hundredths postage digit selector arms of thepostage meter, whereby to reciprocate the various postage digit selectorarms through their various digit positions so long as their respectiveclutches are engaged;

D. separate position encoders coupled to each said clutch output shaftfor providing digital readouts of the absolute digit positions of theassociated postage meter digit selector arms as they are moved throughtheir various digit positions;

E. separate comparator means for continuously comparing the digitalreadouts of the postage digit positions of the various postage digitselector arms with the corresponding postage digit held in the outputregister, and, as comparisons are achieved, electrically signalling theappropriate clutches to disengage their input shafts from their outputshafts, whereby to stop the various postage digit selector arms at thepostage digit position called for by the corresponding postage digitsheld in the output register; and

F. gating means electrically connected to each said comparator means forsignalling the postage meter to execute a print cycle upon disengagementof all of said clutches.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1, which further includes separatedetent means carried on each said clutch output shaft, each said detentmeans operating to properly angularly orient its associated clutchoutput shaft for the appropriate selector arm digit position upon clutchdisengagement.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 2, which further includes a crankinterconnecting each said link to its respective clutch output shaft.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 3, which further includes meansproviding a lost motion connection between each said link and itsrespective postage digit selector arm.

1. Apparatus for positioning the various postage digit selector arms ofa postage meter to postage digit positions according to thecorresponding postage digits of a postage value held in an outputregister of a postage metering system, said apparatus comprising, incombination: A. units digit, tenths digit and hundredths digit clutches,each having input and output shafts; B. a motor continuously drivinglyrotating said clutch input shafts during a positioning cycle; C. linksinterconnecting the respective output shafts of said clutches to theunits, tenths, and hundredths postage digit selector arms of the postagemeter, whereby to reciprocate the various postage digit selector armsthrough their various digit positions so long as their respectiveclutches are engaged; D. separate position encoders coupled to each saidclutch output shaft for providing digital readouts of the absolute digitpositions of the associated postage meter digit selector arms as theyare moved through their various digit positions; E. separate comparatormeans for continuously comparing the digital readouts of the postagedigit positions of the various postage digit selector arms with thecorresponding postage digit held in the output register, and, ascomparisons are achieved, electrically signalling the appropriateclutches to disengage their input shafts from their output shafts,whereby to stop the various postage digit selector arms at the postagedigit position called for by the corresponding postage digits held inthe output register; and F. gating means electrically connected to eachsaid comparator means for signalling the postage meter to execute aprint cycle upon disengagement of all of said clutches.
 2. The apparatusdefined in claim 1, which further includes separate detent means carriedon each said clutch output shaft, each said detent means operating toproperly angularly orient its associated clutch output shaft for theappropriate selector arm digit position upon clutch disengagement. 3.The apparatus defined in claim 2, which further includes a crankinterconnecting each said link to its respective clutch output shaft. 4.The apparatus defined in claim 3, which further includes means providinga lost motion connection between each said link and its respectivepostage digit selector arm.